ABC IVF thread continued

[StarryHannah]

Our other thread is now full so thought I would start this one to continue the chat.

@Beaglemum91 I'm waiting for my period so I can start meds for FET so that is really helpful information about the embryo transfer process. Thank you. Did you have your partner on Facetime or anything for it?

@Icsi2021 so excited for you xxx

@kittyfantastico21 omg! I'm so glad I messaged (I'm very aware that I currently sound neurotic). That does make me feel better. Perhaps it is, this is the first true period since stims as the first bleed is just withdrawal so maybe my bodies a little more sensitive. And that could be why my normal pre period symptoms aren't here because my hormones aren't quite back to normal. They will probably tell me the same thing but good to know a cyst doesn't interfere. I thought it would! 🤷🏽‍♀️

Hello! I wanted to give an update on my ER. Unfortunately the outcomes was not what expected. We retrieved 10 eggs and all of them were immature so mine is a failed cycle. Not what I was expecting and think the clinic triggered too early.

Wish you luck with your cycles !

@hoping4baby21 I hope you heard back from the clinic and they were able to reassure you and I'm glad my post helped in the meantime! I know what you mean, I feel like IVF has made me even more anxious than I already was.

@Francesmalin I'm so sorry your ER didn't go well, that must be so upsetting after going through all the injections and scans. Will you have a follow-up consultation with the clinic to discuss what went wrong and how things could be improved if you try again? I hope you recover well from the procedure and that you have supportive people around you to help cope with the emotional side. Sending you hugs x

@kittyfantastico21 thanks for checking in. I just had a call with them 25 mins ago! I missed their first call at 11am and had to wait all this time. I am being booked in for a "check" scan to make sure everything is ok and if they find a cyst or something else then I'll need to delay this FET. I don't know why everyone doesn't just have a check scan before a cycle begins.

It is also annoying that it is so hard to get hold of someone. One call at 11am and then another just before 5pm before the weekend seems unreasonable. I emailed yesterday, no response and I called at 10am this morning. Then after the missed call, I called again they put me on the call back list and then that call was at 5. I could have probably had the scan today if I had gotten to the phone. I wish they would call twice before they give up 🤦🏽‍♀️

If my period comes I have to start my meds as planned and then after the scan they will let me know if I need to stop. Good news is that if I do need to stop it won't be an cancelled cycle we just postpone but don't lose any money etc. So whilst that would be annoying it's better than finding out on day 10 and having to cancel AND lose money.

@Francesmalin im so sorry that your cycle did not go to plan. I hope that the clinic can give you some answers to why this may have happened ahead of your next cycle so you can make tweaks if needed. In the meantime take some time for you and treat yourself a little.

@Hoping4baby21 that’s so frustrating that you had to wait so long for a call back! Also weird that they had a different response to the nurse I spoke to. Did you tell them about the faint positive? Maybe thats’s why? But great news that you wouldn’t lose any money if the cycle is paused. My ovary ache is back, on and off (guess I was just focused on period pain yesterday and didn’t notice it) so now I’m worrying that I will also have to stop the cycle if it’s a cyst :-( just have to wait and see what happens at my scan next week I suppose. It’s annoying that there seems to be inconsistency between different clinics/nurses. I hope your period has arrived nice and early today!

@kittyfantastico21 yes so frustrating! And on the call she was like well we can't book a scan for quarter for 5 on a Friday! I KNOW that which is why I emailed the night before and called first thing today!

I think it should be standard practice to do a baseline scan before you start. They just don't advertise it which isn't ok. If I would have know it was an option I would have called earlier anyway just to be sure. But I thought they would just say it's probably nothing and say there is nothing they can do.

Mine is now feeling lower down so I'm not sure it is my ovary. Either way I'll find Out Monday. Perhaps if you are still quite worried you can call again and they can get you in. Apparently because this isn't a treatment scan there is no cost and means if there is a delay you don't lose any money. Might be worth a shot. Once you have a treatment scan the normal cancellation terms apply. I didn't tell them about the faint positive actually. Just that it was aching since last Friday on and off and is a full ache. That I haven't felt it before and isn't like ovulation pain.

My period started first thing! So meds start tomorrow but I won't be excited about starting because I might be told to stop everything come Monday 🤷🏽‍♀️

Yes I will have a follow up call with the lead consultant - not the nurse - early next week. I think I was triggered too early because I was over responding to the drugs... Ultimately I hope this is the reason why and not that my eggs are of poor quality. It's quite rare to collect 10 eggs, all of them immature! 😔 It's disappointing and I am really upset cause I was so positive about IVF and even ABC and I wasn't ready to such a failure. The nurse called me on Friday and she said she was shocked to see such a poor response... Let's wait and see!

@hoping4baby21 yay for period coming first thing and starting meds today! Hope you feel okay on them. I had a headache yesterday but hopefully that was just a coincidence, I’m feeling okay today anyway. My ovary ache is barely there today (to the point I’m not sure if I’m imagining it because I’m looking for it now) so I’m hoping it will be gone completely by the time I have a scan on Friday. Sorry you’re not feeling positive about starting meds - I have everything crossed for you that your scan will show everything’s fine tomorrow and hopefully then some of the excitement will come back.

@Francesmalin I hope the clinic can give some answers and advice to help you move forward.

@Clapham4 I think you said you’d be starting injections this weekend - good luck! Wishing you lots of luck for your cycle!

AF just started this afternoon, so they don’t count CD1 until tomorrow and so won’t be on injections until Tuesday. And that feels ages away! I’m on the 150ml bemfola, is that what we all get? I feel like I’ll mess this up!!! I’m awful at medications. I’ve watched the demonstration videos so many times! Once took the wrong eye drops for a week for a bad infection and made it worse 😅

@kittyfantastico21 how are you doing? I hope the ovary pain has subsided? Will you know after your scan when the ET date will be x

@Francesmalin so so sorry to hear about your results. How awful to go through all that and get none. Really hoping the consultation can shed light! And definitely probe the triggering too early idea if you think it caused this. Xx

@Hoping4baby21 and I hope your ovary pain is gone too!! Xx

@Clapham4 the waiting to start a cycle does seem to drag on forever! But Tuesday will be here before you know it and once you start injections you’ll probably find it all starts to go very quickly. Bemfola is really easy - you’ll be absolutely fine! Will you do it yourself or will your partner? I did mine myself but my wife sat with me for all of them and for the first one she played the video and paused it at each step so I could prep the injection along with the instructions. I was also really worried about messing it up! I think starting on 150 is standard. I started on 112.5 though because I’m very small (only 5ft!) and towards the lower end of healthy bmi.

I think it might depend on how my lining looks at my scan whether they book ET or not.

@kittyfantastico21 did you notice your periods where heavier and more clotty than normal?

Mine are must be the increased oestrogen or something.

@Clapham4 you'll be fine one you do the first one it will feel easy AF. Just take it easy, we watched the video at the same time as doing the first one and paused step by step to make sure we got it right. You could try that to be extra safe. Good luck and Tuesday will be here before you know it.

@kittyfantastico21 oh that’s lovely she was there for support! I think I’ll do mine myself, although DH would love to get involved, he’s been all over the TTC process so far, so perhaps I’ll let him have a go once I’ve done one myself😅
Are you trying all the tricks for the lining, pomegranate juice and all that jazz? I did a huge shop today full of superfoods, so throwing everything at this 😂 My diet is quite good generally but really going to be strict this month.
I also booked 2 weeks off work from next week, my job can be hectic, so I’m looking forward to just chilling & dog walks for a few weeks. I’m in a much better headspace for IVF now that AF has arrived, we went all out TTC last month as a last hurrah so it’s now up to the doctors 🤞🏼

Do you mind me asking, where did you get a donor? Through the clinic or independently? X

@hoping4baby21 my period was pretty much the same as usual, although the clinic did say it could be heavier than usual after the fresh cycle so I think it’s probably normal that yours is.

@Clapham4 ahh that’s great that your husband has been so involved. Great idea to have some time off work, that sounds lovely and I’m sure it’ll be nice not to have to worry about time off work for scans etc. I’m going to eat Brazil nuts and beetroot and will probably do the pineapple thing too, but only because I love all of those foods anyway. I’m not really expecting them to make any difference but worth a try as I like to eat them anyway! Otherwise I’m just eating high protein and trying to cut down on sugar and processed things. We got our donor sperm from the London Sperm Bank. Create do have a bank but it was extremely limited choice and there was no one suitable for us. Choosing a donor was probably the most stressful part of the process so far!

So the clinic found a follicle on my left ovary (so not the source of the ache) it's small at 12mm and they think it's just left over from the fresh cycle. They took bloods to find out if it's a functional cyst (releasing hormones). They said I can continue on and then if it continues to grow they will give me a trigger shot to get it to rupture and treat it like a egg bearing follicle, rest of the cycle would go as planned. But they said if it starts to behave erratically then they may advise we abandon the cycle. Bloods won't be back until tomorrow so I'm in limbo for another day 🤦🏽‍♀️.

I'm not sure what's best - she said if we don't feel comfortable we can cancel now and try again next month. Their recommendation is to keep going as it will likely be fine. I'd hate to have to cancel and lose out on money. I'm hoping they call me tomorrow and confirm that my oestrogen is low so it isn't functional and we can ignore it. But if they say it is functional but we reckon it will be fine to continue and we will trigger you, I could continue on but there's a small risk it all goes hay wire and we have to cancel and I'll feel like I made the worst decision!

Has anyone had an experience like this before with a cyst?

I also don't really want to delay if I don't have to. Nothing about this process is plain and simple!

I'm feeling overly emotional and tired I'm not sure if it's the meds - I'd be surprised as it's only day 2. Any one else feeling effects of meds yet?

@Hoping4baby21 sorry to hear you didn’t get a definitive answer but by the sounds of it they don’t seem to phased by it so fingers crossed it sorts itself out and doesn’t become a problem! I can’t imagine how frustrated you must be though, why can’t anything be straight forward! I’m sure it’ll all be fine though as they’ve said xx

Starting my injections tomorrow, all tips welcome! And have my first scan on Friday xx

@hoping4baby21 I'm so sorry they weren't able to give you a clear answer at the scan! It's so upsetting that everything in this process involves so much uncertainty and nothing ever seems to go simply. That's such a difficult decision. In your position (which I very well may be on Friday) I think I would probably go ahead. From what I've read about cysts (quite a lot in the last week!) they don't seem to affect fertility and would only cause problems with the stims part of a cycle so probably fine for FET. Which fits with the clinic recommending going ahead. Did they say what the risk would be if the follicle behaves erratically? Would it be dangerous to your health/affect implantation? I haven't had much in the way of side effects so far. I was exhausted and had a headache the first day of meds but have been fine since so that may have been unrelated. Lack of side effects is nice but does make me worry nothing is happening! I hope you're feeling less tired today.

@Clapham4 good luck for your first injection tonight! I don't really have any tips for bemfola except to say it really, really doesn't hurt at all and is super easy to do. Tbh the main thing that helps is getting the first one done because then you realise how fine it is!

@kittyfantastico21 @Clapham4 thanks for your kind words and reassurance! So the more i think about it I'm feeling like if they seem fine to go ahead to trust that they know best and to proceed.

@kittyfantastico21 I'm sure it will be fine. Gosh your scan came around quick they booked mine in for Monday 19th.

As you said kitty, my research shows that cysts have the most impact for stim cycles not FETs. They said the risk if it behaves erratically will be to abandon the cycle and if it gets too large (whatever that means - I need to ask what they mean by too large) then they would cancel the cycle as well.

If a cyst releases estrogen but we are already on estrogen then what's the problem? I've got a list of questions to ask them on my call back.

I keep seeing both types of stories people allowed to continue people having to cancel and wait. Most seem to have a larger cyst so perhaps that makes a difference as well.

I don't know why and maybe it's just me holding on to hope deep down but I had a good feeling about this cycle despite feeling like I was going through the motions. I feel like I've been seeing "signs" gosh this process is really making me lose it. So I don't really want to cancel. I also know I'm a bit a of a control freak and from my first cycle I said I was going to trust the professionals and let the process be with the universe.

Part of me thinks if they think it won't work they will tell me I should cancel and if it should be ok they will say to proceed. Also if I wait to next cycle end of TWW will be around my BIRTHDAY NO THANK YOU!

As for side effects I'm fairly certain I'm more emotional than normal.

Hello girls! I spoke with the consultant today about the failure of my cycle and my case it's really rare. It happens to only 1%-2% to get good number of eggs but all immature. Although they don't know why this happened (all my blood test are normal + the hormones during treatment were right, etc) the good thing is that next cycle should be back to normal. It's a bit annoying not to know what happened cause I was hoping to hear they messed up but this not the case. It might be the vaccine messed up with my body but it's a correlation I am making and not scientifically proven!

I will need to wait 2-3 months before starting a new cycle but finger crossed it works next time.

@clapham4 the first injection makes you a bit nervous but then it gets easier! Just put some eye before you inject and should be all right! Good luck!

Hello Everyone. I hope you are all okay. I had my treatment consultation today for my FET. My period is due next week so have to wait and see what happens from there. Sorry to hear about your situation @Francesmalin really hoping you are okay. @Hoping4baby21 hope you can go through which this cycle, very frustrating situation for you! You don’t think about those things until you hear about them.

@hoping4baby21 I hope you've had good news from the clinic this afternoon and that the blood test showed everything is fine!

My scan is day 8, because my period came a day early last Friday. If it had come on Saturday the scan would be next Monday like yours. So I'm glad that for once my period helped me out and means I don't have to wait quite so long to find out what's going on in there.

@Francesmalin I'm so sorry they weren't able to give you any real answers in your consultation. I really hope you have better results next time.

@Hopeful1234567 will you be starting medication for the FET on your next period? I'm sure that will come around really quickly and it will feel good to be back in the swing of it.

@Francesmalin I hope you reassured to some degree that it is rare and hopefully won't happen again. If this process shows us anything it is that our bodies are unpredictable!

@Hopeful1234567 good luck with you FET cycle and I hope it all goes nice and smoothly for you.

@kittyfantastico21 it's so nice when your body plays ball. My period usually rocks up at 6pm but for both my cycles now it's started first thing! so I did hear back from the clinic and it is just a follicle it is releasing hormones - seems my body decided to recruit a follicle nice and early defying logic. So they will monitor it and so my cycle becomes a kind of modified medicated/natural FET. If the follicle continues to grow (my body trying to ovulate naturally) they will give me a trigger shot or catch my natural ovulation. I'd prefer trigger shot to be safe. So will need to track with OPK's. I have a scan earlier on Friday (CD7) this week now aswell to keep an eye on it. Its gunna be a nail biting weekend hoping I don't get a positive OPK until Monday earliest as they are closed on weekends!

The only concern now is that the follicle is ready but my lining is not ready. I don't seem to have lining issues fingers and toes crossed that this stays the same but of course I might have less time to build a nice thick lining due to this over eager follicle.

Alternatively the follicle might now be suppressed because I'm on the progynova and it might not continue to grow in which case they just ignore it. They said this has no impact on chances of success. It is only an issue if they miss ovulation because I will release progesterone too soon.

@Clapham4 good luck for your first injection- let us know how it goes. Not much going on over here, I have my treatment consultation on Thursday, but.... it looks like I might be gearing up to ovulate sooner than expected so I might be starting more like 25/26 July instead of 1 August! Hoping the medication can be delivered in time. Oh and our frozen sperm is being transferred from the LWC on Thursday too! I'm on the app so I can't easily refer back to PP, but wishing everyone starting their FETs good luck x

@lawandgin ooo that is good news indeed. Love it when your body works in your favour! I'm sure the meds will come on time my treatment consultation was on a Thursday and I could have had this meds the following Tuesday if I was in. So you will be fine, it's booking the treatment consultation in time I think. Best of luck for you on your cycle.

@hoping4baby21 eeek that sounds quite stressful! But it sounds overall like good news that you should be able to go ahead with the cycle and they have a good plan to monitor and adapt as needed. I'm really interested (really nervous, more like) to see what happens at my scan on Friday and whether I'll be in a similar situation. I think my ovary ache has gone away now - sometimes I think I feel it but then when I try to focus on it I can't find it, so maybe I'm imagining it.

@lawandgin great news that you can get started sooner! The meds can be delivered really quickly so I'm sure it'll be fine!

After a big delay to start thyroxine and get my TSH level down... My medication is arriving on Thursday and we're good to start on my next period, due 18th July eeeeek